I've watched WhatsApp forwards nearly tear apart my own family group chat with rumors nobody bothered to check. Platforms profit enormously off our attention while the damage from what spreads there falls entirely on us โ that has to come with real responsibility.
Section 79 of the IT Act currently grants platforms safe-harbor immunity as long as they act on flagged content, similar to the US's Section 230 โ removing that shield would force platforms into aggressive pre-emptive censorship just to avoid liability, harming legitimate speech too.